BANCROFT 

LIBRARY 

« 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


Issued  by  the  Republican  State  Central  Committee  of  Cal, 

\VM.    SHERMAN,    Secretary. 

•    THE   PRESIDENT   VINDICATED. 


SPEECH    OF 


DELIVERED  • 


111  the  United  States  Senate,  June  3,  '72. 


-. 

After  a  thorcugb.  and  comp'ete  vindication  of  the 
action  of  the  committee  appointed  to  investigate 

-  the  French  Arms  Sales,  Mr.  Carpenter,  adverting 
to  the  bi-.ter  personal  attack  on  the  President  by 
Senator  Suznner,  said : 

"  But,  sir,  the  present  debate,  began  by  the  Senator 
from  Massachusetts  en  Friday,  acd  continued  by 

'  the  Senator  from  Missouri  on  Friday  evening,  was 
not  intended  to  discuss  the  question  of  the  sale  of 

,    arms.    That  was  the  pretext  for  thrusting  asother 

-  political  debate  upon  the  Senate  prior  to  the  Phila- 
delphia convention.    I  have  already  shown  you  how 
the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  glided  by  this  sub- 
ject with  only  a  passing   and  angry  glance,  and 
devoted  columns  of  personal  abuse  <o  the  Chief 
Mag'strate  cf  the  nation.    The  subject  was  origin- 
ally introduced  fcr  mere  partisan  purposes,  not  to 
ascertain  the  f^cts,  and  this  new  phae«  of  it  is  in 
full  keeping  with  the  primary  design.    The  object 
is  to  prejudice  the  Administration  with  calumny 
and  falsehood,  in  the  vain  hope  of  thwarting  the 
mirifest  purpose  of  the  people  to  rencminate  and 
reelect  General  Grant.     The   late   speech   of  tee 
Senator  from  Massachusetts,  with  two  paragraphs 
upon  the  subject  and  twenty  columns  of  calumny 
upon  General  Grant,  fully  jnstifys  this  statement 

Mr.  Presldert,  tbo  Senator  from  Massachusetts 
has  assumed  a  posi'.ion  which  cot  only  invites  but  ' 
ccmpels  an  examination  of  his  motives,  and  after 
his  deliberate  and  merciless  attack  upon  General 
Grant,  who  by  the  proprieties  cf  his  station  is  pre- 
cluded from  replying,  the  Senator  cannot  complain  ! 


if  the  friends  cf  Genera!  Grant  accept  the  war  h 
has  declared,  ard  catryit  into  tte  Senaloi:s  own 
camp. 

Tbe  Senator  from  MaEsachnsetts  has  lorg  been  in 
pub'.ic  life.  He  was  associated  early  with  measures 
which  finally  triumphed,  changing  the  policy  of 
tbis  country  from  a  protection  of  slavery  into  a 
vindiCit'on  Of  freedom.  When  this  great  consum- 
mation was  accomplished,  it  was  natural  that  its 
leaders  and  champions  should  be  held  in  honcp 
and  regarded  with  affection  by  co-laborers  in  tte 
same  neld,  and  by  the  enfranchised  race.  The 
Senator  enjoyed  the  flattering  and  dangerous  en- 
comiums which  a  grateful  people  always  bestow 
upon  real  or  supposed  benefactors.  But  it 
proved  true  of  him,  as  of  many  others,  that  the 
fcrti.ude  which  can  survive  opposition  is  not  a'- 
ways  distinguished  by  the  steadiness  that  c&n 
endure  success.  The  adulation  of  thousands,  and 
the  constant  burning  of  incense  before  him,  have 
BO  complete' y  turned  his  head  that  he  seems  ir- 
capable  of  considering  any  subject  apart  from  hica- 
self.  He  has,  as  it  is  reported,  long  been  not  OL!T 
an  ada?irer,  but  an  imitator  of  Burke;  and  it  ?s 
clear  that  in  the  elaborate  and. malignant  philippic 
upon  the  President,  which  te  read  in  the  Senate  oa 
Friday,  which  was  composed  at  great  expense  of 
midnight  oil,  ^printed  in  pamphlet  form,  ar.d 
partially  distributed  before  its  delive»yin  tteS:D- 
ate,  the  Senator  bad  in  mind  Burke*s  terrible 
arraignment  cf  Warren  Hastings,  which  was  so 
vindictive  as  to  provcke  the  following  epigram : 


"  Oft  Lave  we  wondered  that  on  Irish  ground 
No  poisonous  reptile  has  e'er  yet  bf  en  found ; 
Revealed  the  secret  stands  of  Nature's  work, 
She  saved  her  venom  to  create  a  Burke." 

Imitators  are  always  more  successful  in  copying 
the  vice  s  tb an  the  virtues  of  the  old  masters;  and 
the  Senator's  philippic  as  far  excels  its  model  in 
malice  and  meanness  as  it  fal's  short  of  it  in  grand- 
eur and  eloquence.  And  there  are  many  reasons 
for  fearing  that  the  Senator  will  meet  the  fate  of 
Burke,  who  late  in  l:fe  turned  away  from  his  early 
principles,  and  died  in  the  embrace  Of  his  early 
enemies,  detested  by  his  early  friends. 

I  propose  to  consider  several  of  the  articles  of 
jmpeactment  which  are  set  in  array  by  the  Sen- 
ator's speech  against  the  President.  And  first  let 
me  consider  the  charge  that  the  President  has 
turned  the  Executive  Mansion  into  a  military 
headquarters.  What  ate  the  facts?  Three  officers 
of  the  army  may  be  found  in  the  W,hite  House. 
Babcock,  a  major  of  engineers,  detailed  in  pursu- 
ance of  an  act  of  Congress  to  act  as  commissioner  of 
public  buddings  and  grounds;  and  Dent  and  Porter, 
officers  belonging  to  the  staff  of  General  Shtrman. 
Three  more  modest  and  courteous  gentlemen  can 
not  be  found  in  the  United  State  s.  Th«y  were  mem- 
b:rs  of  General  Grant's  military  family  during  the 
•war,  and  they  love  him,  as  do  a  1  those  who  have 
ever  served  with  him.  In  so  far  as  they  can  assist  tbe 
President,  it  is  with  them  a  labor  of  love  to  do  so,  for 
neither  one  of  them  receives  ore  cent  of  compen- 
sation for  such  service.  If  they  were  all  dismissed 
from  the  White  House  to-day,  Babcock  would  have 
an  office  in  some  other  public  building,  and  receive 
the  same  salary  as  at  present.  Dent  and  Potter 
would  be  occupying  rooms  in  the  War  Department, 
dividing  with  other  assistants  of  General  Sherman, 
labor  not  very  severe  in  these  pipirg  times  of  peace, 
and  which  would  be  lighter  still  when  still  further 
divided.  It  has  been  attempted  by  the  Senator  to 
exalt  these  gentlemen  into  some  official  impor- 
tance, but  they  are  merely  clerks  at  the  White 
House,  assisting  the  President,  with  the  peimisBion 
of  General  Sherman,  the  official  chitf ;  and  htre  let 
me  repeat  that  neither  of  them  receive  a  cent  for 
such  ass;etance  beyond  his  pay  as  an  officer  of  the 
army. 

Now  for  the  precedent.  General  Washington 
appointed  General  Knox,  his  old  comrade  in  arms, 
Secretary  of  War;  General  Jackson  was  ss^isted  by 
Maj  or  Donaldson ;  General  Taylor  by  his  son-in-Uw, 
Colonel  Bliss,  and  President  Johnson  by  four  offi- 
cers of  the  army,  detailed  for  service  at  the  White 
House. 

When  General  Grant  took  possession  of  the  White 
House  it  was  pa'rolled  by  tettintls  day  and  night; 
80  was  the  War  Department;  so  was  the  residence 
of  Mr.  Sewird.  The  first  night  Gerieral  Grant 
s'ept  at  the  President's  House,  after  retiring,  he 
heard  the  tramp  of  soldiers  in  the  hall  below,  and 
presently  tbo  command,  "Halt;  order  arms,"  End 
the  crash  cf  muskets  on  the  floor.  The  General  not 
knowing  what  it  meant,  ran  down  stairs  to  atcer- 


ttin.  There  he  found  an  officer  in  commas d  of  a 
squad  of  soldiers,  and  on  asking  an  explanation,  the 
General  was  informed  that  it  was  the  night  guard 
of  the  Executive  Mansion,  which  for  a  long  time 
had  been  stationed  there  every  night.  But  General 
Grant  informed  the  officer  that  he  could  take  card 
of  himself,  and  ordered  him  to  take  his  soldiers  to 
their  quarters.  He  waited  till  his  armed  friends 
J  ad  left,  then  locked  the  door  and  went  to  bed.  The 
next  day  the  whole  business  of  sentinel  service  waa 
discontinued,  and  not  a  soldier  has  been  en  duty  at 
the  White  House  since.  General  Grant  also  order- 
ed away  from  Washington  all  the  companies  cf 
soldiers  which  were  on  duty  here  when  he  was 
inaugurated;  and  not  a  company  of  troops  can  now 
be  found  in  or  around  Washington  city. 

Now,  in  the  light  of  these  facts,  let  me  turn  to  the 
Senator's  speech  and  read  what  he  says  about  the 
turning  of  the  Executive  Mansion  into  a  military 
headquarters.  It  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  monstrous 
exsggerations  of  the  Senator's  spetch: 

"  ILLEGAL  MILITARY  KING   AT   EXECUTIVE  MANSION. 

"  The  military  spirit  which  failed  in  the  effort  to 
set  aside  a  fundamental  law  as  if  it  were  a  transient 
older  was  more  successful  at  the  Executive  Man- 
sion, which  at  once  assumed  the  chancier  of  mili- 
tary headquarters.  To  the  dishonor  of  tbe  civil 
service,  and  in  total  disregard  of  precedent,  the 
President  surrounded  Himself  with  officers  of  the 
army,  and  substituted  mi'itery  forms  for  tl.oie  of 
civil  Jife,  detailing  for  this  service  members  of  his 
late  staff.'' 

Allow  me  to  call  attention  again  to  tic  precise 
language;  and  here  let  me  repeat  that  this  speech 
of  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  is  not  to  be 
estimated  as  you  would  estimate  a  speech  thrown 
off  in  the  heat  of  an  extempore  debite.  This  wrath 
was  carefully  distilled;  tUs  fpsech  was  prepared 
with  great  and  protracted  labor. 

Here  is  a  deliberate  arraignment,  and  what  is  here 
is  either  deliberate  truth  or  deliberate  falsehood ; 
one  or  the  otDer.  When  he  alleges,  as  he  does  here, 
that  "  to  the  dishonor  of  the  civil  service,  and  in 
total  disregard  of  prectden1,  the  President  sur- 
rounded himgelf  with  officers  of  the  Army,  and  sub- 
stituted military  forms  for  those  of  civil  life,  detail- 
ing for  this  service  members  of  his  late  staff,"  the 
Senator  from  Massachusetts  penned,  revised,  correit- 
ed,  prin'ed,  published,  s?nt  to  the  world  a  deliberate 
truth  or  a  deliberate  falsehood.  Which  was  it? 
Was  there  no  precedent  f.r  his  being  served  by  a 
lew  clerks  who  were  willing  to  aid  him  wi  heut 
pay,  from  mere  personal  affection  ?  Did  not  Andrew 
Johnson  have  four  army  officers  detailed  for  service 
in  the  White  Houssf  Had  not  Andrew  Johnson 
been  surround  d  with  sentinels  and  the  White 
House  guarded  like  a  military  fortress;  and  in  all 
tbe  complaints  thst  were  made  ag&iast  Andrew 
Johnson,  did  any  man  charge  hiaa  with  violating 
the  liw  in  having  bis  house  protected  at  night  by 
sentinels?  Was  any  ccmplaint  made  upon  the 
ground  that  thre  e  or  four  army  officers  were  serv- 
ing him  in  the  capacity  of  clerks  in  tbe  Whits  House  ? 
If  there  was  I  never  heard  of  it,  and  yet  wo 
know  that  in  that  heated  and  angry  time  those 


Who  opposed  Andrew  Johnson  were  not  over-smi- 
puloHs  about  the  charges  they  brought  against  him, 
and  still  such  a  thing  was  never  laid  to  his  charge, 
although,  as  I  have  shown,  instead  of  what  has  been 
done,  and  is  being  done  now  being  wi'.hout  a  prece- 
dent, it  is  less  in  every  respect  than  was  done  during 
the  entire  administration  of  Mr.  Johnson  without 
c  riticism  from  an j  body  whatever. 

Bu*  again,  this  is  a  charge  not  only  that  the 
Executive  Mansion  kas  assume!  the  character  cf 
mill! ary  Headquarters,  but  that  he  has  substituted 
military  forms  for  (hose  of  civil  life.  I  take  it  to 
be  the  duty  of  this  Senate,  I  take  it  to  be  the  duty  of 
the  mf  cabers  of  the  other  House,  I  take  it  to  be  the 
duty  of  all  lovers  of  truth  and  justice,  who  reside 
for  a  portion  of  the  year  in  Washington  and  know 
the  facts,  to  bear  testimony  to  the  American  people 
whether  this  arra'gnmcnt  cf  President  Grant  is  a 
truth  or  a  falsehood.  Senators,  how  has  the  White 
House  been  made  to  assume  the  character  of  mili- 
tary headquarters  ?  Do  you  encounter  any  sentinal 
at  the  door?  Do  you  see  any  orderly  on  the  stairs? 
Do  you  see  a  gun  or  a  musket  or  a  shoulder- s'rap  in 
the  White  Houss  from  top  to  bottom?  Not  one. 
The  whole  charge  is  baseless  as  a  dream. 

Then  came  Ihe  Senator  to  the  great  crimes  of 
nepotism  and  gift-receiving.  Well,  I  do  not  propose 
to  waste  mcch  strength  upon  either  of  these  sub- 
jects. Nepotism  is  a  pretty  large  phrase,  and  would 
include  a  gocd  many  oi  us  in  i'.s  rigid  application. 
I  «m  not  aware  that  it  is  any  worse  for  a  man  to 
procure  nis  brother  to  be  appointed  to  an  office,  if 
compatent  to  disch  rge  i'e  duties,  than  it  is  to  pro- 
cure an  appointment  for  a  particular  friend.  In 
principle  there  is  no  difference  between  the  two 
ca  es.  It  may  be  that  if  we  were  exercising  that 
romantic  Spartan  simplicity  of  manner  which  nuy 
return  at'.er  the  millennium,  when  the  Senator 
from  Maesichusetts  and  the  Senator  from  Missouri 
shall  be  in  joint  possession  of  the  White  House,  this 
sort  of  thing  might  be  objected  to;  but  really,  in 
the  piac'.ical  course  of  business  in  this  country,  the 
thing  is  a  little  too  trifling  to  deserve  serious  at- 
tention. 

Recavinz  gifts!  What  is  there  of  this?  Simply 
that  it  results  from  the  consciousness  of  the  Arueri- 
c  in  people  that  the  salaries  paid  by  oar  Government 
are  but  niggardly  comper  sat'on  for  high  public 
service.  Wnen  the  war  closed  the  exul'.ation  and 
gratitude  of  the  ptople  were  unbounded,  and  it 
naturally  found  expression  towatd  those  who  hid 
rendered  most  distinguished  service  in  suppressing 
the  rebellion. 

Many  ii  stances  of  the  same  nature  are  found  in 
English  history.  Marlborough  and  Wellington  were 
both  honored  an  1  rewarded  by  similar  expressions 
Of  admiration  and  gratitude.  True,  in  these  cases 
the  ac  s  o'  reward  prcxjeeded  from  Parliament,  but 
Parliament  was  not  fettered  by  the  rigid  provisions 
of  a  written  cons  itution,  and  could  ia  its  omnipo- 
tence so  give  voice  to  the  feelings  of  the  British 
people.  Here,  tie  most  that  Congress  ccnld  do 
would  be  limi'ed  to  the  gift  of  a  sword,  with  as  few 
diamonds  as  possible  about  the  hilt.  Bat  here  the 


people,  in  their  own  generous  way,  spontaneously 
rendered  tribute,  and  a  victorious  general  could 
certainly  not  be  regarded  as  tarnishing  his  liurela 
by  accepting  sush  voluntary,  nay,  enthusiastic  evi- 
dence of  appreciation.  Grant  was  nut  alone  in 
receiving  suah  tokens  of  appreciation  and  grati- 
tude. Sherman,  McClellan,  Sheudan,  and  other 
distinguished  offliers  were  recipients  of  the  same 
kinds  of  acknowledgments. 

Are  these  free  gifts  of  a  grateful  people— a  people 
grateful  for  country  and  libarties  saved — to  be 
liktned  to  bribes?  Who  will  say  it?  The  Senator 
from  Massachusetts,  in  his  assumpti3n  of  personal 
purity  and  lofty  virtue,  miy  u'ter  his  spurious  in- 
dignation, and  fortify  his  position  by  "wise  saws 
and  modem  instances,"  but  the  robust  common, 
sense  of  the  American  people  will  reject  with  con- 
tempt all  such  absurd  criticism  and  censure. 

The  next  serious  arraignment  of  the  President  ii 
in  respect  to  the  "  big  "  war  he  prosecuted  against 
Iliyti!  I  do  no;  propose  to  go  through  the  San 
Domingo  discussion  again.  We  had  it  here  in  secret 
session  and  in  open  session.  The  Senator  from 
Missouri  labored  at  gre.it  length,  in  open  session, 
to  show  that  the  President  of  tha  United  States  had 
for  a  long  time  been  levying  war  upon  the  republic 
of  Hayti,  and  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts, 
sweU'ng  with  what  I  have  no  doubt  he  thought  was 
I  inspiration,  but  what  was  undoubtedly  mere  atmos- 
j  phere,  repeated  some  ancient  writer,  who  §ay» 
I  "there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  small  war."  Ha 
allowed  the  Senator  from  Missouri  to  establish  the 
fact  that  there  had  been  a  war,  and  then  he  resur- 
rected antiquity  to  say  that  there  could  b«  no 
"small"  war.  Wei],  take  the  two  Senators  together, 
and  what  resu  ted  ?  Why,  that  General  Grant  prote- 
cuted  for  months  a  great  war  against  Hayti. 

Now,  is  that  really  so,  or  is  there  a  little  exagger- 
a'ion  absut  that,  too?  Is  that  subject  to  the  same 
deduction  and  discount  you  have  to  make  in  regard 
to  the  Whits  House  having  been  turned  into  a  fort, 
and  civil  life  having  lost  its  appearance  entirely  in 
the  military  arrangement  -for  defense  within  whicb 
General  Grant  has  intrenched  himself  against  the 
assaults  of  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  and  the 
Senator  from  Missouri?  Yes,  sir,  this  statement 
needs  just  the  same  deduction.  General  Grant,  it 
must  be  understood,  knows  something  about  tha 
methods  of  war.  Had  the  Senator  from  Massachu- 
clmsetts  been  President  of  the  United  States  and 
wanted  ts  levy  a  war  upon  Hayti,  it  is  very  probable 
tint  he  would  have  waged  it  in  as  gentle  a  manner 
as  Grant  is  alleged  to  have  done  this ;  but  General 
Grant  minages  war  after  a  different  fashion.  H» 
WiS  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  of  the 
Navy,  and  if  he  meant  to  make  war  upon  Hayti  ae 
knew  how  to  do  it. 

But,  sir,  what  was  there  of  that  greit  war  upon 
Hiyti  ?  When  it  was  finally  ciphered  down  on  the 
investigation,  and  the  precise  facts  ascertained,  tha 
only  act  done  by  any  naval  officer  which  could  ba 
tortured  into  a  prosecution  of  war,  was  the  firing  off 
of  one  sky-rocket  from  the  deck  of  one  of  our  ships, 
somewhere  near  the  coast  of  Hayti.  So  that  we 
are  told  that  General  Grant,  a  chieftain  of  sojna 


reputation  and  exparience,  in  command  of  the  army 
and  nary  of  one  of  the  greatest  nations  on  earth, 
levied  a  war  upon  that  feeble  government  for 
months,  and,  in  the  frescoed  rhetoric  of  the  Senator 
from  Massachusetts,  a  great  w»r,  too  ;  yet  not  a 
Boldier  marched,  not  a  gun  was  fired,  not  a  pocket- 
pistol  was  drawn ;  a  eingle  sky-rocket  wae  discharged 
from  a  man-of-war.  [Laughter.] 

What  is  the  charge  against  the  President  ?  Why, 
that  he  usurped  the  war-power  of  this  nation  when 
he  fired  that  sky-rocket,  [Laughter.]  You  can  not 
fire  a  sky-rocket  from  a  man-of-war  in  the  Indian 
oeean,  nor  in  Liverpool,  nor  anywhere  on  the  globe, 
without  a  previous  act_  of  Congress  specifying  the 
precise  moment  when  the  sky-rocket  shall  be  fired, 
In  what  direction  it  shall  be  aimed,  how  much 
material  shall  be  in  it,  and  the  purpose  for  which 
it  shall  be  fired;  and  if  you  do  not  so  provide,  and 
if  any  naval  officer  somewhere  shall,  no  matter  with 
what  purpose,  send  up  into  blue  spaoa  one  sky- 
rocket, the  President  of  the  United  States,  who  never 
even  saw  the  sky-rocket,  is  chargeable  with  having 
usurped  the  war  power  of  the  nation  and  levied  a 
w*r  for  several  months.  There  are  a  great  many 
things  that  nvgbt  be  said  about  this  momentous 
matter,  but,  indeed,  it  is  haid'y  worth  more  talk. 
I  do  not  believe  the  people  of  this  country  will 
quite  think  General  Grant  made  a  war  for  several 
months  that  nobody  ever  hsard  of,  and  in  which 
not  even  a  pocket-pistol  was  discharged. 

But  the  most  remarkable  part  of  the  Senator's 
speech  ramalns  to  be  considered.  I  think  the  people, 
as  they  read  this  malicious  arraignment,  may  lose 
their  patience,  but  they  will  probably  preserve  their 
gravity  until  they  come  to  the  place  where  the 
Senator  from  Massachusetts  arraigns  the  President 
of  the  United  States  for  egotism,  self-pretension, 
and  a  Quarrelsome  disposition.  Mr.  President,  if 
the  people  of  the  United  States  could  see  these  men 
as  we  see  them  daily  in  official  and  social  inter- 
course, if  they  could  be  acquainted  as  we  are  with 
their  incomings  and  outgoings,  their  daily  walk  and 
ccnversation,  they  would  comprehend  the  joke  to 
a  degree  which  they  never  could  without  such 
knowledge.  Sir,  go  to  the  White  House  any  day  or 
acy  evening,  and  you  see  the  President  of  the 
United  Ststes,  a  mild,  gentle-mannered  man,  acces- 
sible to  the  highest,  lowest,  richest,  poorest,  blackest, 
•whitest  cidzen  of  the  United  States;  to  all  who 
seek  him  "sweet  as  summer,"  never  alluding  to 
himself,  never  referring  to  his  achievements  in  the 
war.  Turn  from  that  picture  to  the  lofty  and 
prancing  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  who  has  jast 
pranced  out  of  ths  chamber,  [laughter,]  and  then 
imagine  that  Senator  in  all  his  pomp  and  pride  ot 
Circumstances  rising  here  with  a  prepared  and 
printed,  revised  and  correctad  oration,  arraigning 
General  Grant  for  egotism  and  pretension,  and  yet 
more,  for  a  quarrelsome  turn  of  mind  t 

Now,  Mr.  President,  here  is  another  point  as  to 
which  it  is  our  duty  to  testify.  The  American 
people  do  not  fully  know  these  two  men.  They  do 
not  know  how  false  in  every  sense,  not  only  in  its 
eiter,  but  in  its  spirit,  and  in  all  the  impressions  it 


is  designed  ta  produce,  that  assertion  is.  We  da 
know  it.  I  appeal  to  you,  Senators,  as  men  of 
honor;  I  say  you  caunot  sit  here  silently  and  wit- 
ness  su3h  injustice  committed  in  this  chamber.  If 
you  do,  you  become  a  party  to  it.  Your  silence 
gives  assent  to  it,  and  in  some  sanse  you  give  your 
approbation  to  that  charge,  and  ssnd  it  out  against 
General  Grant  before  the  American  people. 

What  are  the  facts?  And  I  speak  now  of  what 
every  man  who  knows  General  Grant  knows.  I  was 
trying  last  night  to  recall  a  single  instance  if,  in 
conversation  in  regard  to  the  lata  war,  I  had  heard 
General  Grant  allude  to  himself,  and  I  could  not.  I 
have  heard  him  speak  in  the  most  glowing  terms.cf 
his  comrades  in  arms.  I  have  heard  him  spaak  of 
the  exploits  oi  Sherman.  I  have  heard  him  allude 
to  what  was  done  by  Logan,  by  McPher»oa,  and  by 
many  other  officers  of  the  Union  army.  I  never 
heard  him  siy,  speaking  of  a  battle,  "At  such  a 
juncture  I  thought  I  wou'd  do  so  and  so;"  or  "I 
ordered  a  battalion  this  way  or  that;"  or  "  I  turned 
toe  sca:e  by  such  a  maneuver."  I  ntver  heard  Mm 
allude  to  himself  in  connection  with  the  war.  I  be- 
lieve you  might  go  to  the  White  House  and  live  with 
the  President  and  converse  about  the  war  day  after 
day,  and  you  never  would  know  from  anything  ha 
said  that  he  was  in  the  war  at  all. 

Turn  now  again  to  his  great  accuser,  the  Senator 
from  Massachusetts.  Whoever  heard  him  speak- 
five  minutes  on  any  subject  that  he  did  not  glorify 
fcimself?  [Liugbter.]  I  challenge  any  mac,  any 
fiiend  of  his,  to  go  to  the  Library  and  bring  at 
random  any  volume  Of  the  Congressional  Globe  since 
ha  took  his  seat  s&a  Senator,  and  show  me  five  inches 
of  a  speech  of  that  Senator  that  does  not  praise  him- 
self. Why,  s'r,  in  tais  very  speech  in  which  he  ar- 
raigns Genaral  Grant  for  egotism,  he  commences  by 
glorifying  himself.  He  established  this  Republican 
pirty;  he  was  the  earliest  and  tha  most  anxious, 
and  he  the  most  effective  of  those  men  who  brought 
it  into  being ;  and  he  prays  for  its  life  less  for  its 
own  sake  than  that  Jut  m  >y  be  spared  the  sorrow  of 
following  its  hearse.  Sir,  the  absurdity  of  this- 
charge,  when  you  consider  the  two  men  as  we 
know  t^wn,  both  the  accusar  and  the  accused, 
passes  all  human  understanding,  comprehension, 
or  belief. 

I  have  heard  it  said  (and  I  am  sorry  that  the 
Senator  is  not  here  to  correct  m3  if  it  is  not 
true)  that  a  very  estimable  lady  once  wrote  to  the 
Senator  from  Massachusetts  invoking  his  aid  for 
some  individual  who  had  a  case  or  a  claim  before 
Congress.  The  Senator  repl'.ed  that  he  was  so  ab- 
sorbed in  the  contemplation  of  geneial  princi- 
ples, and  so  arduously  laboring  for  the  welfare 
of  ;man  in  general,  that  ho  had  no  time  to  de- 
vote to  the  wints  of  individuals.  The  lady  re- 
sponded, thanking  him  for  the  civility  of  hia 
reply,  and  reminding  him  that,  so-  far  as  sha 
was  informed  lie  had  taken  a  somewhat  loftier  at- 
titude tuan  was  occupied  by  ttie  Almighty,  [laugh- 
ter;] that  while  He  governed  the  Universe,  while  Ha 
ruled  the  oibs_in  their  spheres,  He  also  considered 


the  want*  of  His  children,  and  that  not  even  a  spar- 
row  could  fall  without  His  knowledge, 

But  another  great  offence  of  the  President  is  that 
he  is  so  quarrelsome  ;  and  here  I  will  ask  the  Sec- 
retary to  re  ad  from  the  Senator's  speech  the  para- 
graph which  I  have  marked, 

The  Chief  Ckrk  reads  as  follows  : 

"Evidently  our  President  has  never  read  the  e'ev- 
enth  commandment  :  '  A  President  of  the  United 
Sta'es  shall  never  quarrel.'  At  least  he  lives  in 
perpetual  violation  of  it,  listening  to  stories  from 
horse-cars,  gobbling  the  gossip  of  kis  military  ring, 
discoursing  en  imaginary  griefs  and  nursing  his  un- 
just anger.  Tiie  elect  of  forty  mi  lion  of  people  Las 
no  right  to  qusrrel  with  anybody.  His  position  is 
too  exalted.  He  cannot  do  it  witthout  offence  to  the 
requirements  of  patrio.ism,  without  a  siock  to  tae 
decencies  of  1'fe,  wi.hout  a  jar  to  the  harmony  of  the 
universe." 

Mr.  Carpenter.  Mr.  President,  it  IB  one  of  the 
commonest,  though  by  no  me  ins  the  greatest,  errors 
into  which  the  Senator  from  Massaehusets  has 
fillen  that  he  identifies  himself  so  completely  with 
tie  universe  tiat  he  is  not  at  all  certain  whether  he 
is  part  of  the  universe,  or  the  universe  is  a  part  of 
him.  [Laughter.]  He  assarts  here  that  when  the 
President  quarrels  with  him — if  course  that  is  what 
he  means  ;  he  did  not  mention  himself,  but  he 
never  considered  anybody  but  himsel";  and  when 
he  was  fpeikiog  of  the  President  quarreling  he 
meant  that  great  quarrel  cf  which  the  President  has 
been  made  the  victim,  and  to  which  he  has  quie'ly 
and  silently  submitted,  a  quarrel  forced  upon  him 
by  the  Senator— he  says  that  such  a  quarrel  jars  the 
harmony  of  the  universe !  Well,  well!  The  Senator 
from  Massachusetts  might  be  jarred  a  great  de.-,l 
more  than  hs  has  baen,  and  the  universe  would  not 
take  the  slightest  notice  of  it.  [Laughter.]  The 
universe  wonll  net  tremble  if  he  were  hit  far  more 
severely  than  he  ever  has  been.  This  is  one  of  those 
stupendous,  inconcievabla  evidences  of  the  humility 
of  tae  Senator  from  Massachusetts  which  I  wish  I 
could  read  in  the  hearing  of  every  man  in  this 
land. 

But,  Mr.  President,  th's  is  not  the  highest  point 
of  arrogance  and  assumption  to  which  the  Senator 
rises  in  tbig  pirigrsph.  It  is  not  that  he  has  mis- 
taken Himself  for  the  universe  that  anybody  will 
seriously  complain.  He  h? s  risen  in  this  paragraph 
above  the  uiiverse  :  he  bai  seatol  himself  by  the 
Eide  of  the  Almighty,  and  uadertaken  a  revision, 
corrsction,  and  enlargement  of  His  works  : 

"  Evidently  cur  President  has  never  read  the 
el.venth  commandment." 

Now,  then,  comes  the  quotation  from  whom  f 

"A  President  of  the  United  States  eh-.ll  nsver 
quarre'." 

This  is  the  addition  which  the  Senator  from 
Massachusetts  engrafts  upon  the  decalogue,  that 


body  of  laws  given  by  God  to  man  amid  the  thun- 
ders cf  Sinai.  I  hold  in  my  hand  the  sacred  volume 
which  contains  the  revelations  of  man's  latest  exis- 
tence on  earth,  and  penetrates  the  vgil  and  discloses 
the  mysteries  beyond.  John,  on  the  island  of 
Patm os,  being  "in  the  spiiit,  on  the  Lord's  day," 
eaw  many  things  clem  and  unclean;  he  saw  the 
great  red  dragon  with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns; 
he  saw  the  wLore  of  Babylon  in  scarlet  a.t;re;  and 
he  saw  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts.  [Laughter 
and  applause  in  the  galleries.]  And  apparently 
with  a  view  to  prevent  the  blasphemy  which  we 
have  witnessed  in  this  chamber  there  are  written  at 
the  conclusion  of  this  sacred  volume,  which  con- 
tains the  light  of  our  life  in  this  lifa  and  our  guide 
to  a  better  aoode  above,  words  of  awful  aimoni.ion 
I  which  I  ecmmend  to  the  careful  study  of  the  Sena- 
tor from  Massachusetts : 

"  For  I  testily  unto  every  man  thai  heartth  the 
words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book,  if  any  man 
shall  add  uato  these  thing?,  God  shall  add  unto  him 
the  plagues  that  are  written  in  this  book. 

"And  if  any  man  shall  take  away  from  the  words 
of  the'book  of  proptecy,  Gad  shall  take  away  his 
part  of  the  book  of  lif ?,  and  out  of  the  holy  city,  and 
frcm  the  things  which  are  written  in  this  book." 

Oh,  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  reviser  and  cor- 
recter  of  the  decalogue,  toy  I  regret  your  absence 
so  that  you  cannot  hear  these  passages  of  Scripture! 
[-Laugh'er.]  Why,  sir,  if  the  presumption  of  the 
Senator  from  Massachusetts  shouM  only  reach  a 
liUle  higher,  you  might  find  in  the  book-stalls  of 
t'ais  city  within  a  year  a  volume  entitled  "The 
Sarmon  on  the  Jljuut,  revised,  correctei,  and 
greatly  enlarged  and  improved,  by  Charles  Sumnsr." 
[Lsughter.]  I  submit  such  a  production  would  be 
in  perfect  keeping  with  his  supplement  to  the  deca- 
logue. 

But,  Mr.  President,  suppose  that  on  a  cureful  and 
impartial  investigation  of  facts  it  should  turn  out 
that  all  the  quarrel  that  exists  between  the  Senator 
from  Masaicnusetta  and  the  President  of  the  United 
States  is  a  quarrel  entirely  on  the  part  of  the  Sena- 
tor, and  that  it  is  based  upon  motives  ut  erly  un- 
worthy of  a  Senator,  what  would  be  thought  of  it 
then?  I  am  sorry  he  is  not  here  to  correct  me  if  I 
am  misinformed,  but  I  am  told  by  th>Ee  who  ought 
to  koow  that  the  first  trouble  that  occurred  between 
the  Sena'or  from  Massachusetts  and  the  Administra- 
tion was  in  regard  tJ  the  Greek  mission.  It  was 
bell  by  Mr.  Tuckerman,  who  dad  always  performed 
his  duty  to  tbe  satisfaction  of  the  Government,  and 
oa  the  accession  of  this  Administration  the  Senator 
from  Massachusetts,  as  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Foreign  Relations,  demanded  that  plice,  and  de- 
manded it  for  a  friend  of  his  in  B^s.on,  upon  tha 
ground  th&t  his  friend  had,  as  he  said,  been  a  life- 
loug  friend.  It  so  happened  that  t.e  Administra- 
tion could  not  consistently  and  prop.rly  gratify  the 
Senator  in  this  matter.  The  demand,  as  I  under- 
st  nd  it,  was  made  on  mere  personal  grounds.  The 
Senator  from  M  -.ssachusetts  demanded  tha  appoint- 
ment not  be:ause  Mr.  Tucterman  was  not  a  worthy 


eprese ntative,  but  because  the  Senator  desired  to 
giatify  a  "  life-long  friend."  If  this  was  not  "  ne- 
potism" on  the  part  of  the  Senator  what  was  it? 

Then  came  the  removal  of  Mr.  Motley,  Minister  to 
England,  for  reasons  satisfactory  to  the  Senate. 
This  mitter  was  considered  in  sscret  session,  and  I 
Cinnot  refrrto  anjth  ng  that  took  placp.  1  cannot 
say  whether  or  not  in  that  debate  fie  Senator  from 
Maasachuset's  deslared  that  Mr.  Motley's  appoint- 
ment had  been  conceded  to  him  as  clnirman  of  the 
Committee  on  Fore'gn  Relations.  I  caanot  say 
whether  or  not  Mr.  Sumner  declared  that  Mr.  Mot- 
ley was  his  personal  f  ,-iend.  I  cannot  say  whether 
or  not  Mr.  Sumner  said  that  if  Mr.  Motley  should  be 
removed  it  wo  jld  be  the  end  of  ad  amicable  rela- 
tions between  him  and  this  Administration,  or 
words  to  that  effect.  I  Cannot  say  anything  about  ir, 
and  I  do  not  intend  to  do  so.  [Laughter.]  Buf,  I 
say,  suppose  such  were  the  facts,  wlut  would  toe 
people  of  this  country  think  of  the  Senator  who 
now  comes  here  and  arraigns  the  President  as  a 
quirreler,  and  announces  bimsilf  £8  the  champion 
of  civil  service  reforoa,  and  opposed  to  entertaining 
personal  considerations  in  the  administration  of 
public  affairs? 

There  are  so  many  remarkable  things  in  the  Sena- 
tor's speech  that  it  is  impossible  to  dwell  longer  on 
auy  one  point,  &iA  my  strength  is  so  far  exhausted 
that  I  sta'lVe  compelled  to  leave  many  of  these 
swee's  for  fur:her  consideration  by  other  Senators. 
There  is  one  thing,  however,  which  for  its  enormity 
deserves  special  attention,  and  if  I  thought  it  wcu  d 
lake  the  1  st  bieath  of  life  I  have  to  spend  on  any- 
thing, I  would  spend  it  on  this.  I  ask  the  Secretary 
to  reid  the  ex'ract  in  relation  to  Mr.  Stanton. 

The  chief  clerk  read  as  follows: 

"THE  TESTIMONY  OF  HON.  E.  M.  STANTON. 

"  Some'hing  alao  must  be  attributed  to  individual 
character;  aud  here  I  eipr.ss  no  opinion  of  my 
own;  I  shall  allow  another  to  speak  in  solemn  wO:ds 
echoed  fiom  the  tomb. 

"  On  raachirg  Washington  at  the  opening  of  Con- 
gress in  December,  18j9,  I  Was  puned  to  hear  tbat 
Mr.  S  anton,  lately  Sicretiry  of  War,  was  in  failing 
healih.  Full  of  gratitude  f.rhis  unsurpassed  ser- 
vices, and  with  a  sentiment  of  friendship  quickened 
by  common  political  sympathies,  I  lost  no  t'me  in 
seeing  him,  and  repeated  my  visits  until  his  death, 
toward  the  close  of  the  same  month.  My  last  visit 
was  mirVeJ  by  a  communication  never  to  be  forgot- 
ten. As  I  entered  his  bedroom,  wnere  I  found  him 
reclining  on  a  Eofa,  prtpped  by  pillows,  he  reached 
out  his  hand,  alre.idy  clammy  cold,  and,  in  r,  p'y  to 
my  icqu  ry,  'Hose  are  you?'  answered,  'Waiting  for 
my  furlough.'  Then  at  onae  with  eipgal&r  solemnity 
b.3  said,  'L  have  something  to  say  to  you.'  Whom  I 
was  scat  id  he  proceeded,  without  one  w_rd  of  intro- 
duction: 'I  know  General  Grant  better  ttai  any 
other  psrsoa  in  the  country  can  know  him.  It  was 
Ely  duty  to  study  him,  and  I  did  so,  night  and  day, 
when  I  siw  h'm  a:d  when  1  did  not  tee  h;m,  and 
now  I  tell  you  what  I  know,  he  can  not  gove;n  this 


country.'  The  intensify  of  his  manner  aud  the  Jk)8- 
itiveness  of  his  judgment  surprised  me,  for  though 
I  was  aware  that  the  late  Secretary  of  War  did  not 
place  the  President  very  high  in  general  capacity,  I 
was  not  prepared  for  a  judgment  so  strongly  couched 
At  las*,  after  some  delay,  occupied  in  meditating  his 
remarkable  words.  I  observed,  'What  you  say,  is  very 
broad.'  '  It  is  as  true  as  it  is  "broad,1  he  replied 
prompMy.  I  added,  '  You  are  tarty  ;  you  tell  this 
late;  why  did  you  not  ssy  this  bafore  his  nomina- 
ti  n?'  He  answered  tbat  he  was  not  consulted  about 
the  nomination,  and  had  no  opportunity  of  express- 
ing bi3  opinion  upon  it,  besides  b  sing  much  occu- 
pied at  the  time  by  his  duties  as  Secretary  of  War 
asd  his  contest  with  ihe  President.  I  fol'owed  by 
saying,  'Bu*  you  took  part  ia  the  Presidential  elec- 
tim,  and  mule  a  sucjession  of  speeches  for  him  ia 
Ohio  and  Pennsylvania.'  '  I  s;oke, '  said  he,  '  but  I 
never  intr.dused  the  name  of  General  Grant.  I 
spoka  for  the  Republican  par  y  and  tlie  Republican 
cause.'  This  was  the  last  time  I  saw  Mr.  Stanton. 
A  few  days  later  I  foltowed  him  to  the  grave  where 
he  now  rests." 

Mr.  Carpenter.  Mr.  President,  let  us  examiae 
this  remarkable  statement  a  little  in  detail.  The 
Senator  asserts  th»t  this  interview  occurred  a  few 
days  before  Mr.  Stanton's  death;  and  tnat  Mr. 
Stanton  was  expressing  not  a  suddeu  conc'ujion, 
formed  upon  nawly  discovered  testimony,  but  the 
result  of  his  study  of  Grant's  ciaract  jr  for  many 
years.  Hemak  s  Mr.  Stanton  say :  "  I  kuow  General 
Grant  better  than  any  other  person  in  the  country 
can  know  him.  It  was  my  duty  to  study  hioi  when 
I  saw  him  and  when  I  did  not  see  him,"  etc.  And 
he  makes  him  say  "that  he  was  not  consulted 
about  the  nomination'1  of  General  Grint  fjr  the 
Presidency,  &ud  that  in  the  speeches  which  he 
(S'anton)  made  during  the  campaign  ha  never  intro- 
duced the  name  of  General  Grant. 

Tae  Senator  from  M  issachusetts  has  been  very 
unfortunate  in  all  this  business.  He  waded  into 
this  investigition  chin  dsep  upon  the  strength  of 
letters  of  very  emineut  iadividm's,  whose  names  he 
refused  to  disclose,  and  whose  testimony,  therefore, 
we  couM  not  obtain.  But  upon  thU  occasion  he 
evidently  intended  to  support  his  charge  agains 
General  Grant  by  witnesses  who  cou  d  not  b3  ca'led 
lo  impeach  him.  So  he  violated  all  the  de  icacies  of 
friendship  and  invaded  the  sanctuiry  of  ths  grave 
and  cilled  Edwin  M.  Stanton  bick  to  beir  testimo- 
ny against  the  President  of  the  United  States.  Sir, 
it  is  a  little  difficult  to  ke-p  strictly  wi  :hin  parlia- 
mentary decorum  and  say  wh  it  ought  to  b  i  said  on 
such  an  occasion.  I  shall  attempt  to  do  it,  and  I 
hope  I  shall  succeed. 

In  the  first  p'aoe.  I  am  speaking  to  men  who  will 
know  whether  I  atn  right  or  wrong  in  whit  I  say  ; 
and  I  assert  that  if  Mr.  Stanton  nude  that  declara- 
tion to  the  Senator  from  Mmactu^etts  under 
the  circumstances  detailed  by  him,  if  thsre  is  a 
word  of  subs'antial  tru:h  t  j  t^at  whole  paragraph  ; 
if  it  be  not  an  infaimu:,  f»brication  from  first  tj 


last,  then  Mr.  Stanton  was  the  most  double-faced 
and  cishonest  man  that  ever  lived  ;  and  I  call  -a pan 
Senators  around  me  to  bear  testimony  upon  this 
pM&t. 

Tnere  were  accidents  that  brought  me  to  know 
Mr.  Stanton  very  well.  I  came  h^ra  to  attend  to  an 
important  lawsui*,  occupied  a  room  in  the  Wsr  De- 
partment, and  for  several  months  siw  ,Mr.  Stanton 
daily.  I  went  to'the  Supreme  Court  in  the  morning 
at  11  o'clock  to  watch  the  progress  of  its  business, 
and  I  was  at  leisure  for  the  rest  of  the  day.  I  was 
much  of  the  time  at  the  Department,  and  therefore 
frequently  wi*fa  h-'m.  He  was  at  that  time,  as  you 
all  know,  imprisoned  in  the  Department  in  cors;- 
quence  of  troubles  with  the  Prt  sident,  and  he  used 
to  come  into  my  ro  m  to  smoke,  and  often  invited 
me  to  walk  with  him.  In  the  course  of  our  conver- 
sations I  beard  Mm  refer  to  General  Grant  a  hundred 
times,  and  never  but  with  the  highest  respect  and 
the  kindest  feel.ng. 

I  came  here  a  Senator  at  the  session  at  which  Mr. 
Stanton  died,  and  was  frequently  at  bis  house  dur- 
ing his  last  illcew.  I  ssw  him  just  before  he  dieil, 
under  circumstances  which  gave  me  an  opportunity 
to  kn  w  more  than  I  should  otherwise  have  known 
of  his  feeling  toward  General  Grant.  I  bed  charge 
for  ti  e  first  time  In  my  life  of  a  bill  in  the  Senate, 
the  bill  which  we  passed  for  the  reconstruction  of 
the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  after  the  colored  mem- 
bers had  been  expel  ed.  We  sat  late  at  Light  to  pass 
it.  At  about  hall-pist  eleven,  while  in  my  seat,  it 
occurred  to  me  sorre*hing  might  be  done  to  insure 
the  appointment  of  Mr.  Stanton  as  judge  ot  the 
Supreme  Court.  It  had  been  talked  about  for  sc me 
week  s.  It  ha  d  been  expected  by  many  of  UP,  and  ye  t 
his  ncmioa-  ion  did  not  come.  I  then  and  tbere  drew 
up  a  letter  to  the  President  recommending  Mr.  Stac- 
ton  to  be  appointed  judge  of  that  court.  I  tcok  It 
around  this  Chamber  acd  in  less  th«n  twenty  min- 
utes obtained  thirty-seven  signatures  of  Republican 
Seratcrs.  That  was  Friday  night,  and  beforj  leav- 
ing tle  Sec  ate  Chamber  I  agreed  with  the  Senator 
from  Michigan  [Mr.  Chand'er.]  to  meet  me  at  the 
White  House  the  following  morniog,  Saturday,  at 
ten  o'clock,  to  present  the  letter  to  the  Presided. 

The  n;xt  morning,  at  ten  o'clock,  I  rode  to  Mr. 
Stanton's  and  shewed  him  the  letter,  and  as  b.i 
glanced  over  it  'he  tears  started  down  his  checks. 
He  said  cot  a  word.  Ha  did  tot  even  say,  thank  you. 
Witness:ng  the  depth  of  his  emotion  I  bowed  myself 
out,  telling  him  that  I  was  going  to  present  it  to  the 
President. 

I  carried  it  to  the  President  and  found  the  Senator 
from  Michigan  with  the  President,  awaiting  me. 
Said  the  President : 

"I  am  delighted  to  have  that  letter  ;  I  have  de- 
sired for  weeks  to  appoint  Mr.  St»n(on  to  that  place, 
and  yet  in  cot  sequence  of  his  having  been  Secret^  ry 
of  War,  and  so  pr  minent  in  the  recent  pjlUic.il 
6  r;fe,  I  have  doubted  whether  it  would  answer  to 
make  him  a  judge;  that  in-lcrsement  is  all  that  I 
want ;  ycu  go  to  Mr.  Station's  house  and  tell  him 
his  name  will  be  sent  to  the  Senate  on  Monday 
morning." 


This  was  en  Saturday.  1  then  drove  back  to  Mr. 
Stanton's  house  and  t^ld  him  whaS  the  President 
tai  stU.  Mr.  Stanton's  first  reply-was  :  "ThekiLd- 
ness  of  Genera'.  Gran' — it  is  perfectly  characteristic 
of  him— will  do  more  to  cure  me  than  all  the  skill  of 
the  doctors."  And,  sir,  I  know  th  t  in  the  serious 
illness  which  terminated  so  disastrously,  he  fre- 
quently had  occasion  to  rjfer  to  the  course  of  the 
Administration,  to  matters  that  were  pending  In 
Congress,  and  I  do  know,  and  I  can  tes'ify,  and  I  hold 
it  to  be  my  solemn  duty  to  testify,  ttat  in  all  those 
interviews,  from  first  to  last,  from  the  time  I  first 
made  his  acqnaintance  down  to  tbe  hour  of  his  d"ath, 
I  never  heard  h:m  siy  of  General  Grant  anything 
that  was  not  of  iha  kindest  nature  and  of  the  highest 
pr«ise. 

My  friend  from  Vermont  [Mr.  Edmonds.]  reminds 
me  of  a  difficulty  that  occurred  after  the  name  of  Mr. 
Stanton  was  eent  to  the  Senate.  He  was  pppointed 
to  succeed  Mr.  Justice  Grur  who  had  reMred,  to 
take  effect  on  a  future  day  the  first  of  February  I 
think,  that  he  might  be  present  at  the  decision  of 
some  causes  that  bed  been  previously  argued.  Mr. 
Stanton's  name  wae  sent  here  ;  he  wt-s  confirmed  by 
tbe  Senate,  and  a  commission  made  out  and  ready 
to  09  delivered.  The  Present  th>:n  suggested  this 
difficulty:  Mr.  Jus'i?e  Grier  still  beirg  in  office, 
could  tbe  commission  be  delivered?  Thereupon 
several  friends  were  consulted  by  tbe  President,  and 
they  advised  him  that  there  was  r>o  difficulty  on  that 
ground  ;  and  thereuprn  the  comm'ssion  was  sent  to 
Mr.  Etanton,  to  take  effect  on  the  day  when  the  res- 
ignation of  Mr.  Grier  should  take  effect  The  Pres- 
ident continued  to  call  upon  him  al  his  house,  day 
after  day,  during  his  last  illness,  up  to  the  day  of  his 
death,  and  followed  his  remains  to  the  grave. 

The  c.TCums'arces  of  the  appointment  of  Mr. 
Stankn  to  .the  place  were  very  remarkable,  Mr. 
Justice  Grier,  an  old  maa,  full  of  honors  and  full  of 
days,  bad  sent  in  bis  resignation  or  announced  his 
disposition  to  retire  on  a  cfrtain  day.  Mr.  Stanton 
was  nominated,  confirmed,  C3mmifsioned,  and  ready 
to  take  h-s  seat.  He  w  s  then  taken  sick,  died,  and 
was  buried,  all  te'ore  the  1st  day  of  February,  and 
on  that  day  good  old  Justice  Grier  returned,  took 
his  place  on  the  bench,  and  helped  to  decide  causes 
af  er  his  successor  had  bsen  appointed,  commission- 
ed, and  was  dead  and  buried.  The  circumstances 
show  the  anxiety  of  the  President  in  this  matter  to 
do  tbia  kicdly  act  to  his  friend  Stanton  ;  and  I  tell 
ycu,  sir,  what  I  do  know  and  what  no  statement 
could  shake  from  my  belief  for  one  moment,  that 
there  i»  not  one  word  of  truth  in  the  whole  para- 
graph which  has  been  read  from  the  desk. 

In  the  paragraph  quoted  from  the  Senator's  fpeech 
be  represents  Mr.  Stanton  assaying  that  although  In 
the  campaign  of  1868  he  tcok  the  stump  for  the  Re- 
pub'ican  party,  he  did  not  mention  the  name  of 
General  Grent.  I  have  here  the  report  of  a  speech 
made  by  Mr.  Stanton  at  Steubetville,  Ohio,  where 
he  had  formerly  resided,  and  I  read  from  it,  being  a 
report  in  the  Washington  Daily  Chronicle  of  Septem- 
ber 27, 1868,  as  follows  ; 


*  *  *  "And  now  I  ask  what  reason  has  any 
man  to  vo'e  againet  General  Gran1,?  His  capacity 
tnd  integrity  for  civil  administration  were  equally 
manifest  in  the  vast  territory  in  which  he  operated. 
If  any  man  smong  you  would  hide  from  the  boy,  the 
musket  aad  knapsack  that  his  father  carried  at  Don- 
elson,  at  Vicksburg,  upon  Lookout  Mountain, 
throughout  the  Wilderness,  before  Richmond,  at 
Five  Forks,  at  Appomattox  Court-house,  and 
Shouldering  proudly,  marched  with  two  hundred 
thousand  of  his  fellow-soldiers  through  the  streets 
of  Washington,  and  around  the  Capitol  and  Execu- 
tive Mansion  that  he  defended  wiih  his  life,  for  years, 
in  the  long  march,  <he  wearisome  siege  and  the  storm 
of  battle,  l^t  such  men  vote  against  General  Grant. 
[Applause.]  If  -there  is  any  man  among  you  who 
would  blot  from  the  page  of  our  history  the  story  of 
these  great  achievements,  let  him  driw  black  lines 
around  them  and  write  across  thsir  face,  "  Have  no 
share  in  these  greafdeeds,  for  I  vote  against  Grant." 
[Applause.]  Is  there  any  man  among  you  that  would 
compel  the  armies  of  the  Potomac,  of  the  James,  of 
the  Ohio,  of  the  Cumberland,  of  the  Tennessee,  and 
of  tho  Gu'f,  to  be  again  gathered  at  the  tap  of  the 
drum,  ai>d  Eurrendered,  as  prisoners  of  war,  to  Lee 
and  Jobnson,  Beavsregard  and  Forrest,  and  Preston, 
let  him  vote  against  General  Grant.  [Applause.]  If 
there  is  any  m-m  among  you  who  has  forgotten 
that  bright  Sabbath  day  the  little  Monitor,  as  she 
steamed  out  eg^inst  the  new  sea  monster,  the 
Merrimic,  and,  before  noon,  drove  her,  shattered 
and  crippled,  to  port ;  if  there  is  any  man  who 
would  have  rejoiced  to  behold  a  cannon  ball  shatter 
Farragut,  as,  lashed  to  hie  mast,  he  drove  through 


the  Rebel  fleet  and  pushed  them  to  pieces,  let  that 
man  vote  against  Grant.  If  any  man  would  lave 
Worden,  and  Farragut,  and  Winslow  and  all  our 
great  admirals  haul  down  the  s'ar-epangled  banner, 
never  again  to  brave  the  battle  end  the  bresze ;  if  he 
would  see  them  slink  in  shame  from  their  own 
quarter-decks,  and  give  up  their  ships  to  Miury,  and 
Buchannan,  and  Senunes,  and  MofiV,  while  the 
Confederate  bars,  emblems  of  slavery,  flaunt  on 
eveiy  sea,  in  every  Sttte,  let  him  vote  against  Grant. 
Vote  early  and  vote  often;  for  if  Grant  ba  elected, 
this  globe  shall  disappear  from  the  firrnamint  be- 
fore the  banner  of  the  United  States  shall  suffer 
tarnish  or  shame  on  the  land  or  on  the  deep.  [An. 
plause.]  If  there  is  any  man  amocg  yon  that  would 
reverse  the  order  of  history :  who  would  bring  upon 
you  a  shame  and  a  reproach  never  before  kno^n 
p.mong  the  nations  of  the  earth ;  wbo  would  have  the 
commander  of  the  United  S'ates  arm'es  deliver  up 
bis  sword  and  humbly  bow  before  the  Rebel  com- 
mander— let  that  man  vote  against  Grant,  but  never 
again  call  himself  an  American  citizen.  [Applause.] 
If  there  is  any  man  whose  eyeballs  would  not  burn 
to  behold  Lse  upon  the  portico  of  the  Capitol,  with. 
Beauregard,  P/eston,  and  Forrest  at  his  side,  with  a 
Confederate  army  around  him,  and,  as  the  Govern- 
ment is  transferred  to  them,  listen  to  the  rebel  yell 
as  it  sounds  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  in  the  New 
York  convention,  [loud  cheers,]  let  such  a  man  vote 
against  Grant  and  go  to  Washington  on  the  4th  of 
March.  [Applause.]  Why,  then,  I  repeat,  should 
any  lover  of  his  country  vote  against  Grant,  Collax, 
and  the  Republican  Members  of  Congress  ? 


ROOMS     OF    THE 


Republican   State  Central   Committee, 

417    KEARNY    STREET,    SAN    FRANCISCO,    CAL. 


Francis  &  Valentine,  Steam  Printing  House,  517  Clay  Street,  San  Francisco. 


